STAFF at Park Cakes bakery are still waiting to find out if they will be among the 425 employees who are to lose their jobs.

The owner, Northern Foods of Leeds, has told the Advertiser that it hopes to principally cover the job cuts by laying off temporary workers.

News of the redundancies followed an announcement last week that the troubled Ashton Road factory is to shed a fifth of its business - the plant that caters for the firm's £50 million cream cake line will be closed over coming months.

The Advertiser exclusively revealed last month that Park Cakes was facing an uncertain future after Northern Foods unveiled plans to sell the whole factory, which currently employs 1,860 people in making ready meals, pizzas, biscuits and cakes.

Despite insistence from a Northern Food spokesman that the plant has "good relationships" with its clients, both Marks and Spencer and Asda recently moved production of some lines from Park Cake to other plants.

Former Park Cakes worker and regional officer for the Bakers' Union Roy Streeter said: "It's going to be a lot worse than we thought. The major retailers are obviously squeezing them. There is a factory in the south that produces at a cost lower than us. We are all gobsmacked."

Northern Foods has yet to issue an HR1 notice, which will outline exactly how and when staff are to be made redundant, with the firm saying it would be "many months" before exact details are given.

Mr Streeter added: "It is very difficult trying to reassure people when you haven't got the information.

"There will be people who have 12 months' service by the time they make the redundancies who are then officially permanent. They could carry out voluntary redundancies but that will be expensive.

"The agreement is that voluntary redundancies will get two weeks pay per year of service, with additional payment if they have worked for 40 years, plus a £600 payment.

"What we have done in the past with temporary workers is given them a loyalty payment based on the number of months they have worked."

Lisa Peacock, 32, who has worked for the firm for five years, said the announcement was a bolt from the blue.

"Two generations of my family work in the building so you can imagine how worried I am about us all losing our jobs."

Eddie Lynch, 57, said: "Last Friday they told us there was nothing going on and then we learn all these jobs are going."

Mike Grundy, 49, added: "In some cases, several generations of the same family have worked here for decades."

Northern Foods' chief executive Pat O'Driscoll blamed the announcement on "weak trading conditions" at the end of 2005/06, as well as changes in customer delivery.